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The differences between business sales representatives and sales development representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a business sales representative and a sales development representative. Additionally, a business sales representative has an average salary of $58,288, which is higher than the $51,504 average annual salary of a sales development representative.
The top three skills for a business sales representative include business sales, customer accounts and customer service. The most important skills for a sales development representative are SDR, lead generation, and customer service.
| Business Sales Representative | Sales Development Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $58,288 | $51,504 |
| Hourly rate | $28.02 | $24.76 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 226,438 | 199,588 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 83% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A business sales representative's role is to develop strategies in identifying leads and opportunities to secure sales. Their responsibilities revolve around reaching out to clients to offer products and services, discussing the pricing and specifications of products, processing payments, and gathering necessary client information. They may also arrange appointments with clients to negotiate and sign contracts. Furthermore, as a business sales representative, it is essential to produce progress reports and presentations, handle issues and complaints, maintain records of all transactions, and regularly update databases.
A sales development representative qualifies leads at the sales funnel's initial stages. Sales development representatives need to conduct research for prospective clients and qualify the leads before handing them to the sales team. They develop sales strategies to attract buyers or solicit potential customers. They need to build relationships with their customers to determine their needs and qualify the viability of interests to drive sales. Also, they collaborate with the sales executives making certain that corporate targets and goals are met.
Business sales representatives and sales development representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Business Sales Representative | Sales Development Representative | |
| Average salary | $58,288 | $51,504 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $108,000 | Between $34,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | Bothell, WA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Amazon | PitchBook Data |
| Best paying industry | - | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a business sales representative and a sales development representative in terms of educational background:
| Business Sales Representative | Sales Development Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 83% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between business sales representatives' and sales development representatives' demographics:
| Business Sales Representative | Sales Development Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.4% Female, 38.6% | Male, 63.1% Female, 36.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |